Stacking case and tote box of plastic material



Oct. 3, 1961 s. P. LOVELL 3,002,650

STACKING CASE AND TOTE BOX OF PLASTIC MATERIAL Filed May 27, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

FIG. 2

IN V EN TOR.

3,002,050 STACKING CASE AND TOTE BOX OF PLASTIC MATERIAL Filed May 27, 1959 S. P. LOVELL Oct. 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i 7 l I I I I I l I l I v I 1 .Uni dfiwws D k 3,002,650 STACKING CASE AND TOTE BOX F PLASTIC MATERIAL Stanley P. Lovell, Newtonville, Mass, assignor to Baker Plastic Containers, Inc., Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,093

1 (Ilaim. (Cl. 220-97) This invention comprises a new and improved stacking case and tote-box? of general and wide utility, adapted specially for handling small articles in mass and being also servicable as a carrying case for packaged or bottled goods.

Heretofore serious difliculty has been encountered in that loaded cases of wood or iron, when piled in stacks of a dozen or more, tend to stick together in humid atmosphere and so disrupt the smooth operation of automatic article-handling and filling machinery with resulting objectionable loss of time and damage to contents. This particular difliculty is obviated in accordance with my invention by employing a construction material having surface lubricity for non-adherent contact, viz. polyethylene, or other higher members of the paraflin series or mixtures thereof. I have discovered that cases of this material will not adhere to each other no matter to what pressure they are subjected. Pressure upon contact points will not cause bindingand the loaded cases may be shifted laterally upon each other and freely separated under all conditions of use.

Many important advantages flow from the construction material employed in the cases of my invention. In the first place, the case may be molded as an integral article without cracks, scams or joints and thus present a smooth surface and attractive appearance and, if desired, of selected distinctive color or transluence.

In the second place, my novel case is of light weight, considerably lighter than a wooden case of the same capacity: for example, the typical case to be described hereinafter having a capacity of about one cu. ft., and weighs only 3 pounds, ounces, whereas a comparable wooden case weighs about 6 pounds. The case is, moreover, subject to little or no expansion or shrinkage under varying conditions of temperature and humidity and so presents an advantage over wooden cases in this respect.

My improved plastic case also has considerably less bulk than a wooden case. Further, it presents a nonporous, non-absorptive surface which does not readily become stained and which may be conveniently cleaned. The case as a whole is moreover extremely resistant to both strong acids and alkalies and may therefore be conveniently used for such operations as submerging iron parts in an acid pickling bath. The case has the further advantage that it does not become embrittled when subjected to extremely low temperatures such as those encountered in cold storage plants and possesses exceptional strength and toughness under all conditions of temperature.

Other advantages of the case of my invention are incident to its novel shape which facilitates stacking with other cases of the same material and construction, as well as with wooden cases at present in use. With this end in view, the case is provided in its side walls with ribs having the three functions of (1) reinforcing the walls, (2.) imparting a crenelated effect to the bottom of the case with spaced abutment points of support, and (3) guiding the cases in relative vertical movement so as to prevent catching. These abutments are so related to the marginal rib of the base and to the outwardly offset side walls as to be properly registered with the upper edge of 3,002,650 Patented Oct. 3, 1961 any underlying case of the same type or with wooden cases of types heretofore employed.

An important structural feature of my improved case resides in the distribution of material so as to avoid concentrating stress at any point when the loaded case is lifted. With this end in View, the side walls of the case merge at their upper edge into an outwardly directed flange and this in turn merges into a peripheral band of substantial wall thickness. The thickened band in turn merges downwardly into tapering thick areas in which hand holes are formed and these areas taper downwardly and lead at each end to the reinforcing ribs above mentioned. The ribs are of substantially the same thickness as that of the peripheral band and the thickened hand hole areas. The result of this construction is that in lifting the case stress is distributed by the thickened areas and ribs to substantially the entire area of the side walls and any dangerous concentration of stress is obviated.

These and other features of the invention will best be understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the case,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bottom of the case as seen from beneath. FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, of one of the side walls,

FIG. 4 is a view of the case on a smaller scale in perspective and from a different angle, and b,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing several cases in stacked relation. v

The case herein shown is rectangular, substantially cubical, and has a capacity of approximately one cubic foot. The material of the case is polyethylene, polybutane, or any equivalent composition or mixture having the lubricity which is characteristic of these higher members of the paraffin series. The employment of such construction material is an essential feature of the present invention.

The case as herein shown comprises a square bottom 10 which, as herein shown, is provided with a series of perforations 11 permitting the box to be promptly flooded with acid pickling solution, for example, when it is desired to immerse a load of small iron parts. The bottom is provided with external diagonal reinforcing ribs 12 which are shown as terminating at their inner ends in a central circular wall 13 that in practice is formed by the gate through which the liquid resinous composition is injected into the mold in which the case is formed. At their outer ends the diagonal ribs 12 merge in a marginal rib which is offset inwardly within the contour of the bottom and is of substantially the same height as the ribs 12.

Upright side walls 15 are formed integrally with the bottom 10, and these terminate in a continuous top flange 16 extending outwardly and presenting a hat upper surface. Beneath the flange 16 is a wide peripheral band 17 approximately twice the thickness of the walls 15., The flange 16 and the thick peripheral band 17 are molded as integral parts of the walls.

The band 17 merges downwardly into thickened handhole areas 18 of the same thickness. These areas are tapered downwardly at their end edges and merge at each end into a vertical rib 20 of the same thickness as the hand-hole area and also molded as an integral part of the side wall. The ribs 20 are effective as reinforcing elements of the side walls and also as guide ribs which prevent catching of one case on another by engaging the lower edge of the thickened areas 18 in relative vertical movement. The ribs 20 moreover terminate flush with the lower edge of the side walls and thus provide a erenelated efiect in the bottom of the case and supply spaced points of abutment'contact 22. The side walls themselves are offset outwardly with respect to the marginal rib 14 of the bottom and so provide a continuous downwardly directed ledge zl located outside the mar ginal rib as shown in FIG. 3. The lower surface of the bottom is located insubstantially the same horizontal plane as the ledge 21. Elongated hand-holes 19 having rounded ends are formed in the thickened hand-hole areas 18 of .each side wall. It will be seen therefore that lifting force applied to the case through the medium of these hand-holes will be widely distributed throughout the whole area of each side wall by the top flange 16, the thickened band 17. the thickened areas 18 and the merging vertical ribs 29.

The bottom construction of the case permits it to be readily and securely stacked with other cases of the same construction as well as with any similar wooden case already in commercial use. As shown in FIG. 5, the ledge 21 of the uppermost case and the abutment areas of contact 22 constitute supporting faces which rest upon the top flange 16 of the underlying case and alford comfortable clearance since the outside width of the marginal rib 14 is somewhat less than the width of the case between its opposite walls. The same condition exists when onerof my improved-cases is stacked upon an underlying wooden case 23. The marginal flange 14 is of such dimensions as to fit with clearance between opposite side walls of the wooden case and to locate or register the molded case with the wooden case below it in the stack.

In the case herein-shown the vertical ribs 2% are located at each corner of the case "and at two intermediate points which divide each side wall into three panels of substantially equal width. The corner ribs are of special importance not only on account of their reinforcing function but also because they provide at their lower ends contact abutments that extend diagonally outwardly to such an extent as to prevent a corner of the case from slipping down into an oversize wooden case when stacked thereon.

The difiicultyhas been mentioned of the stacked cases heretofore used making troublesome adherent contact.

casein has caused stick ng and in plants wherespilledpr splashed lacquer has caused the same trouble. The cases and boxes of my invention are entirely free in this respect on account of the peculiar characteristics of lubricity found in the rnaterial of which they are constructed.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, '1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A rectangular stacking case and tote box of polyethylene having surface lubricity for non adherent contact of the cases when stacked, and comprising a perforated bottom panel having external diagonal reinforcing ribs merging into a continuous marginal rib, and upstanding side walls integral with said bottom panel and ofiset outwardly with respect to the marginal rib thereof, said upright walls terminating at their upper edges in a fiat outwardly extending flange and having a thickened peripheral band beneath the flange merging downwardly into an elongated thickened area containing hand holes, said thickened area merging downwardly in parallel external reinforcing ribs of the same thickness that .terminate in crenelated formation outside the marginal :rib o f the bottom panel and so provide spaced points of sup.- port tor the case.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,006,692 Shailor Oct. 24,1911 1,542,115 Weis June'rs, 192-5 1,922,082 Dunzweiler Aug. '15, was 2,141,013 Nicholson Dec. 20, 193-8 2,141,791 Keller Dec. 27, 1938 2,303,126 Koppel Nov. 24,1942 2,773,624 Knieriem et a1 Dec. ll, 1956 2,833,324 Burroughs May 6, 1-958 2,893,588 Martin July 7,-1959' FOREIGN PATENTS 530,950 Belgium Aug. ,31, 195 4 

